New member / questions about a Corolla

[99hokie]

Hey guys, first time poster.

My girlfriend's 86 Caprice, aka The Hoopdee, has finally bitten the dust. She needs a small, very reliable car to get her around town and to school and work. No long distance trips or anything special.

A used Corolla, perhaps a '98 to '00 is perfect for her budget (about $8-9k). I'm steering her towards Toyota because of my experiences with my 4Runner. I don't want to have to worry about her breaking down or not being able to start the car in the morning.

My question is, what do I need to know about those years ('98 to '00)? Are there any warning signs I should keep an eye out for? Any particular problems?

From what I've read, that 4-banger is decent, and it should be sufficient enough. Also, it seems that there is a large aftermarket parts/customization crowd. We're going to look at some tomorrow and perhaps a test-drive or two.

So if you like, please share your positive or negative experiences with your Corolla (prefferably with those particular model years).

Thanks for your help ----- back to reading.

[REN69]

Large aftermarket for what?? rice apparel? corollas are not like civic.. you can't really get much for a corolla.

[Morpheus]

yah, civic have tons of aftermarket, I'd reccomend a hatch.

[Chris Corolla S]

For that amount of money get a 2000-2002 over the 98-99, because the newer ones have vvt-i so they will get a bit better gas milegage and a bit more scoot...

As for aftermarket if your just talking bolt-ons the corolla has everything you can get for a civic just not a billion choices...